𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅

chapter twenty-one

Emriana

"Oh, come on! It was good," I said, but Drakkar shook his head.

"It was shit,"

"Stop it! They worked hard to give us a good time," he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"I can't believe I lost two hours of my life for that," he grumbled, and I smiled as I played with the stem of a flower I had plucked next to me. We were sitting on the hill. I had met them last time while Akira had gone hunting.

We ended up spending the day together, walking around the kingdom and going into random little shops. I wasn't going to admit that to him, but I had a good time with him. When he wasn't threatening me for good knows what or glaring at everything that moved, he was actually pleasant to talk with.

"You could've left if it was so bad. Why did you stay?" I asked, turning to him. He glared at the ground, not answering my question.

"Oh, don't be grumpy!" A giggle escaped my lips, and I saw the corner of his lips tilt upward again. He muttered something under his breath, frowning at the ground like he often did.

"Here. Take this," I offered him the flower I had been playing with. He raised a brow.

"Why are you giving me a fucking weed?" He asked, and an unattractive snort came out of me.

"How dare you call my gift some weed!" I said, unable to contain my laughter.

"Oh fine, give it to me," he said, rolling his eyes, and I shook my head.

"You missed your chance, Drakkar. I'm keeping it," I said, letting myself fall back against the grass, my eyes locking on the night sky above our heads.

He stayed quiet beside me for a long moment, none of us talking. It felt nice. It wasn't awkward in any way. We were just relaxing. Roza had been right. I needed that day to collect myself. I felt so dumb and stupid for having difficulty getting used to the kingdom.

My eyes widened as I saw something flash across the sky so quickly that within a blink, it was gone.

"Did you see that? It was so amazing," I said excitedly, gesturing to the sky, but I got no response.

I thought he might be sleeping. I tore my eyes away from the stars and turned toward him. He was lying on his back like me, but his head was already turned my way as he studied me intensely with his serious topaz blue eyes.

I blushed, looking away.

"What?" I whined. He stayed quiet.

I hesitantly looked toward him once again. I inhaled sharply when my eyes met his. He hadn't moved. He was just watching me. My cheeks burned, my entire body tensing under his heavy gaze, but I tried not to look away this time. Our eyes stayed locked on one another for what felt eternity. My eyes traveled across his features, and I blushed deeper at the thoughts that went through my mind.

I shook my head, sitting up from the grass with a nervous smile. I looked around, wanting Akira to come back soon as those thoughts kept lurking in my mind. I brought my knees up to my chest and lowered my chin on them as I looked ahead into the distance, trying to make out the different shapes of the tree in the darkness. I didn't know why I kept finding myself in his presence whenever it was this time of the day.

I pulled myself up to my feet as soon as I heard Akira coming. I could feel Drakkar's intense stare on me, but I looked anywhere but at him. I didn't know why my mind had somehow shifted toward him, and suddenly he looked very handsome.

"Hey, ready to go?" I asked the tiger, who brushed past my hips before circling around me one more time. I raised my cloak over my head, making my way toward the kingdom's gates. I heard Drakkar's heavy footsteps fall in line behind me, but I didn't spare him a look, my face still burning.